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Guns and Butter Buffoonery

By Michael T. Darda March 24, 2006

The latest Treasury data show that tax receipts continued to expand at a rapid 14.1 percent annual pace during the last 12 months through February. Corporate tax receipts boomed at ...

Politics & Policy

The first batch of February economic data has sent the weak-growth-Fed-is-close-to-done crowd running for the hills. The Institute for Supply Management’s Non-Manufacturing Index (ISM Services) jumped to 60.1 in February ...

Politics & Policy

Growth Isn’T The Problem

By Michael T. Darda February 22, 2006

Some have questioned the reliability of healthy January data on sales and production, saying the good news is due to unseasonably warm weather. This group has argued that the data ...

Politics & Policy

Another Pro-Growth Jobs Report

By Michael T. Darda February 7, 2006

The economic malcontents scored a one-round victory after the release of the GDP report for the fourth quarter of 2005, which showed the economy only expanding by 1.1 percent at ...

Politics & Policy

Nothing Weak About It

By Michael T. Darda January 6, 2006

December non-farm payrolls rose by 108,000, about half the expected increase of 200,000, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. However, November non-farm job growth was revised up to 305,000 ...

Politics & Policy

The Hazards to Good Fortune

By Michael T. Darda November 23, 2005

Recent high-frequency data show that the economic pessimists have missed the mark by a country mile. Manufacturing output and core retail sales are accelerating, not slowing, and the post-Katrina economy ...

Politics & Policy

Curtains For Tax Cuts?

By Michael T. Darda November 11, 2005

The Wall Street Journal reported this week that Senate Finance Committee chairman Charles Grassley (R., Iowa) has stepped back from pushing a two-year extension on tax cuts for dividends and ...

Politics & Policy

No Dead Man Walking

By Michael T. Darda November 4, 2005

Some commentators continue to sound the recession siren based on the notion that higher interest rates and a weaker housing market will conspire to collapse consumer spending, drawing the current ...

Politics & Policy

Bernanke Pros, Cons, and Intangibles

By Michael T. Darda October 24, 2005

President Bush confirmed a fury of media speculation Monday when he nominated Ben Bernanke to replace Alan Greenspan as chairman of the Federal Reserve. The market reaction was consistently upward; ...

Politics & Policy

Post-Katrina Positives

By Michael T. Darda October 18, 2005

The first batch of post-Katrina data show that the economy was more resilient than expected during September with core retail sales and high-tech production expanding at robust growth rates. Broad-based ...